How Does the Niagara Whirlpool Get Involved in Niagara River Self- Purification? Anatoliy I Fisenko ONCFEC, Inc., 909 Lake Street, Suite 909, St. Catharines, Ontario L2R 5Z4, Canada E-mail:
[email protected] Abstract. The Niagara River self-purification through the natural formation of froth at a site of the Niagara Whirlpool basin has been investigated. It is shown that the naturally formed froth on the water surface of the Niagara Whirlpool contains a greater concentration of nutrients, trace metals and phenol in comparison to subsurface water. The natural pollutants removal process is explained in detail. As a result, the Niagara River at the Niagara Whirlpool basin possesses its own natural capacity to self-purify through the natural formation of froth. We can conclude that the Niagara Whirlpool is a natural source of Niagara River self-purification. The necessity for the long-term research on the sites of Niagara River for developing the remediation strategies is pointed out. Key Words: natural froth formation; Niagara River, Niagara Whirlpool, non-point sources, pollution, self-purification. 1. Introduction It is well-known that rivers have a natural environmental capacity to self-purify their polluted sites, including the entire water and the benthic soil, through a complex of the chemical (oxidation, hydrolysis, photochemical reactions and others), the physical (sedimentation, evaporation, aeration and others), and the biological natural self-purification processes (Drinan and Spellman, 2001; Beyers and Odum, 1993; Grice and Reeve, 1982; Ostroumov, 1999; Klein, 1957; Vavilin, 1983; Loo and Rosenberg, 1989; Sommer, 1998; Hily, 1991; Mandi et al., 1996; Robach et al., 1991; Stimson et al.